Crossing the Cascades Westbound

Ride along as I make the return trip on the last day of summer westbound from Lewiston, ID to Boeing Field in Seattle. This VFR flight, mostly at 10,500 ft, shows the scenery in central Washington state, including the Columbia River, and along the V2 airway from Ellensburg across the Cascades into the Seattle area, where I joined Kent Arrival into Boeing Field.

[@6582rg]

That was a great flight with beautiful scenery.

[@alk672]

What's your philosophy on crossing a mountain range in a single? I see you followed the I-90, which is what I do every time I go. I like the highway beneath if I need it. Most people I know go over Stampede, and they are low. Would you do that? I was never comfortable with such crossing personally.

[@BruceAirFlying]

I have flown across the Cascades (and other mountain ranges) hundreds of times, VFR and IFR. But I don't mix mountains, ice, night, etc. I typically follow established airways that offer some outs should mechanical problems develop. If I didn't manage the risks associated with flying across mountains, I couldn't go far.

[@rickreynolds1421]

Beautiful scenery, thank you. Where are the VFR arrival procedures listed and how would you know which airports had them? Always learning from your flights.😊

[@BruceAirFlying]

The Boeing Field VFR procedures are described on the reverse side of the Seattle-Portland Terminal Area Chart and via a Letter to Airmen. At many airports, you can find VFR procedures on the airport website. Often they are listed as noise-abatement procedures.

[@bilhep]

Scenery was nice! I wondered sometimes,"Why the turns," and if you were using nav-aids?

[@BruceAirFlying]

As I noted in the video during the descent, I made a series of S-turns to help manage the VFR descent and remain below the Class B shelves east of Seattle. It can be challenging, especially in a fast airplane, to remain clear of the mountains while also complying with the requirements to stay outside of the Class B--and it's often hard to get ATC clearance to descend through the Class B, depending on traffic and the flow at KSEA. I navigate primarily by GPS, but I always have nearby VORs tuned and displayed via bearing pointers, and I tuned and monitored the ILS RWY 32L to avoid conflicting with traffic tracking the localizer until I was cleared to land on RWY 32L.